This invention relates generally to the coating of articles by conventional processes, such as electroplating and anodizing, and more particularly to a device for simultaneously compressing a row of resilient finger pairs on an article holding rack to facilitate placement and removal of articles.
Electroplating and anodizing processes necessarily involve the proper suspension of the articles to be plated or anodized in an electrolytic or other depositing solution. A common method of suspending such articles involves the use of an article holding rack having a plurality of resilient finger pairs each of which is capable of receiving and retaining a metal article which is essentially hollow or has a suitable indentation. Typically, the rack comprises a bar, rod or other similar elongated member having a supporting hook on one end. The resilient finger pairs are typically affixed to the elongated member in opposed, longitudinal rows with the free ends of each finger pair diverging outward from a common point. Similar article holding racks are sometimes used during other coating processes, such as spray painting, dip painting and vacuum metalizing.
The conventional method for placing articles on an article holding rack is to first manually compress the diverging free ends of a finger pair and then manually place the hollow or indented portion of an article over the compressed free ends. Upon release of the compressed finger pair, the article is caught and retained by the outward spring bias of the resilient fingers. This process is repeated until all of the finger pairs on the rack have an article caught and retained on their free ends. Unfortunately, the conventional method is rather tedious and time consuming since a typical article holding rack is capable of receiving and retaining a substantial number of articles. The conventional method of removing articles from an article holding rack following electroplating, anodizing or other coating processes again involves separately and independently manually compressing all of the resilient finger pairs on the rack to release the articles caught and retained thereon.
A pneumatic press for receiving an article holding rack having two opposed rows of resilient finger pairs and simultaneously compressing all of the finger pairs on the rack to facilitate placement of the hollow or indented portion of an article over the free ends of each finger pair is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,290, issued to Jensen, et. al., for an "Apparatus for Compressing Article Holding Racks". A similar pneumatic press which includes means for removing the articles from the free ends of the finger pairs is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. B 3,856,290. While such presses represent a substantial improvement over the conventional article placement and removal methods described above, they are relatively expensive to manufacture and difficult to use. For example, since the resilient finger pairs are horizontally positioned for compressing by such presses, the articles which are being placed on the free ends of the compressed finger pairs often fall off during the placement process. Furthermore, such presses cannot be used to compress the resilient finger pairs on article holding racks other than those having two opposed rows of finger pairs.
It is desirable to have a simple and inexpensive device for receiving an article holding rack and simultaneously compressing a row of resilient finger pairs on the rack to facilitate placement or removal of articles. It is not believed that the prior art provides such an article holding rack or any other device which is readily adaptable for such use.